In Under the Skin, Scarlett Johansson is an otherworldly, not-quite-human alien disguised as a voluptuous young woman who’s out scouring the streets of Glasgow for vulnerable and isolated young men to hunt and kill. She’s enabled in this task by a stern male alien in motorbike leathers, who begins to hunt her when she starts sympathising with her human cohorts.
Under the Skin is quite a slow film, but it’s clever. I really really loved the fact that the alien lands in flippin Scotland, so no-one could understand the accents, let alone a bloodsucking flesh-eater from outerspace. The incomprehensible cacophony just adds to Scarlett’s other-ness. I also absolutely loved the visuals depicting exactly what happens to the victims once Scarlett’s trapped them in her evil lair: awesome sci-fi. On the negative side, I didn’t like the director’s decision to use a lot of amateur performers filmed with hidden cameras; it makes the dialogue jolty and wooden, and I didn’t think it did justice to the script. On the whole though, I found Under the Skin compelling and worth a watch. One thing’s for sure: Mizz Johansson is not afraid to be far far away from Hollywood glamour.